Pouring spout



July 26, 1966 D, A. KERSH ETAL 3,262,627

POURING SPOUT Original Filed Jan. 29, 1962 United States Patent 3,262,627 POURING SPOUT David A. Kersh and Irving Ker-sh, both of 18411 Greenlawn, Detroit, Mich. 48221 Continuation of application Ser. No. 169,373, Jan. 29, 1962. This application Aug. 12, 1964, Ser. No. 390,263 2 Claims. (C1. 229-7) This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 169,373, filed January 29, 1962, now abandoned, entitled, Pouring Spout.

This invention relates to pouring spouts for cartons and particularly to a pouring spout which snaps outwardly to pouring position when a portion thereof is forced inwardly.

The carton'having the pouring spout of the present invention may be made of any material but is herein illustrated, by way of example, as being made from corrugated cardboard. The pouring spout is formed from the material of the carton at the time the sheet of material is die cut and scored to produce the carton. The spout is made by cutting the top edge through the material on adjacent faces of a corner edge above a pivot point in each face. The lower end of the spout is deformed by two pairs of score lines on the side faces, extending downwardly from the pivot points at an angle to each other. Another pair of score lines may extend downwardly from the pivot point on the two adjacent faces between the pairs of score lines when it is desired that the pouring spout move outwardly at a greater angle to the carton edge. By pushing inwardly at the corner edge of the carton at the point where the score lines define the bottom edge of the pouring spout, the bottom edge will snap inwardly moving the portion of the spout above the pivot points outwardly into pouring position. By pushing the pouring portion of the spout upwardly, the lower portion below a line through the pivot points will move outwardly and move the spout inwardly to closed position. Such a spout may be located anywhere along the corner edge of the carton and is usually placed near the top thereof.

The top portion of the spout may be disposed within the top surface of the carton at a corner .thereof with the score line disposed therebelow along the adjacent side faces of the carton. Preferably a fold is provided in the top cover portionof the spout, the fold herein illustrated being a portion of a handle extending upwardly from the top wall. The fold within the top wall portion of the spout provides a greater capacity thereto and a smaller outlet pouring area so that the material, when poured, may be accurately directed into a container.

-When the material of the carton is extremely heavy or when a large-sized spout is desired, a second pair of score lines may be employed on the inner face of the material spaced from the score lines referred to above. When the score line defining the bottom of the spout is pushed inwardly, the top lip portion will snap outwardly to open position. When the score line spaced from the spout is pushed inwardly, the spout Will move outwardly a greater distance than when only one of the score lines is moved inwardly. In any of the arrangements, the spout may be said to be of diamond shape, having a pair of Opposite corners forming pivot points in adjacent faces 3,262,627 Patented July26, 1966 of the container with the axis thereof forming a common base for the same or dissimilar triangular shaped corner portions. The portion above the pivot points being defined lby cut lines through the material to form the pouring edge while the material therebelow is secured to a flexible portion produced by crushing, scoring or the provision of resilient material so as to permit the lower portion of the spout to be moved inwardly.

Accordingly, the main objects of the invention are: to form a spout in a corner edge of a carton by severing the top edge of a diamond-shaped section and connecting the lower portion to a flexible section so that the lower portion may :be moved inwardly to move the upper portion outwardly; to cut and score lines at the corner edge of a carton to provide a. diamond-shaped section with the top edge out through the material and the bottom edge joined to a hingeable section which permits the bottom edge to be moved inwardly and the top edge to pivot outwardly to open position; to form a pouring spout in the top corner of a carton by cutting through the material of the top wall to define the lip edge and by scoring the walls at the corner edge therebelow to permit the corner portion to be moved inwardly so that the top portion may hinge outwardly to form the spout, and in general, to provide a pouring spout at the corner edge of the carton made from the material thereof in a manner which is simple in construction, positive in operation and economical to manufacture.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will be specifically pointed out or will become apparent when referring, for a better understanding of the invention, to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a broken plan view of a carton having a closed pouring spout thereon embodying features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view of the structure illustrated in FIGURE 1, with the spout in open position;

FIGURE 3 is a view of structure, similar to that illustrated in FIGURE 1, showing a further form of the invention with the spout in closed position;

FIGURE 4 is a view of the structure illustrated in FIGURE 3, with the spout in partially open position;

FIGURE 5 is a view of a structure illustrated in FIG- URES 3 and 4 with the spout in fully open position;

FIGURE 6 is a view of a spout, similar to that illustrated in FIGURE 3, showing a still further form of the invention;

FIGURE 7 is a view of the structure illustrated in FIGURE 6, showing the spout in open position; and

FIGURE 8 is a view of the structure similar to that illustrated in FIGURE 1, showing another form of the invention.

Referring to FIGURES l and 2, a carton 10 of conventional form, made of paper or corrugated board, is provided with a pouring spout 11 constructed in accordance with the present invention. The lip portion 12 of the pouring spout is formed from the corner portion of the top 13 of the carton. An edge 14 of the lip portion is completely out through the top material and also through the handle portion 15 provided on the top portion. From the points 16 and 17 at the ends of the cut line 14, two angularly disposed pains of score lines 18 and 19 are provided in the sides 21 and 22 of the carton. These lines could be formed by crushing the corrugated portion of the board or a score or out line can be made to produce the lines. In such an arrangement the line 1? would be scored on the outer face of the sides 21 and 22 while the line 18 would be scored on the inner side. By pressing inwardly at the point 23 where the score line 18 meets at the corner edge 24, the portion of the carton along the scored line 18 snaps inwardly causing the lip portion 12 to snap outwardly pivoting about the points 16 and 17 to open position as clearly illustrated in FIGURE 2.

The spout portion 25 is formed from the section of the handle to provide a narrow pouring channel at the center of the lip portion 12 so that the substance being poured from the carton can be accurately directed into a small aperture or container. By moving the pouring spout portion upwardly to cause it to pivot inwardly about the points '16 and 17, the lip portion 12 will snap inwardly to the position illustrated in FIGURE 1 as the score line 18 moves outwardly to be in the plane of the sides 21 and 22.

A similar construction is illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7 wherein a cut line 27 extends between the points 16 and 17 in the sides 29 and 31 of a carton 36 to define the lip portion of the pouring spout. Score lines 27 and 28 are provided in the panels in the same manner as provided in the panel of FIGURE 1 below the lip portion 32 cut from the sides rather than the top wall 33. When the corner edge 34 is pressed inwardly at the point 23, the lip portion 32 will snap outwardly to open position as illustrated in FIGURE -7. By pushing the lip portion upwardly, the pouring spout will snap back to the closed position as illustrated in FIGURE 6.

In FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, a still further form of the invention is illustrated, that wherein a pouring spout 36 has an arcuate cut lip portion 37 with a score line 38 in addition to score lines 39 and 41 which'are. similar to score lines 18 and 19 above described. With this arrangement, when pushing inwardly on the corner edge point 42, the pouring spout 36 will snap outwardly into partially open position as illustrated in FIGURE 4 and, when the point 43 of the corner edge is pushed inwardly thereafter or at the same time, the lip portion 36 will move into fully open position substantially parallel to the top wall 33, as illustrated in FIGURE 5. When the pouring spout is in either of the positions illustrated in FIG- URE 4 or 5, the movement of the lip portion upwardly will cause it to snap into closed position, as illustrated in FIGURE 1. To prevent the lip portion from passing beyond the plane of the sides 21 and 22 a strip of material 44 on the inner face of the sides 21 and 22 extends below the cut edge 37 in position to be engaged by the lip portion when moved to closed position. The strip may be secured in any manner to the sides and may 'be an extension of the overlap portion of the container at a corner adjacent to the corner 24.

The closer the point 23 is to the line connecting the points 16 and 17, the greater will be the outward tilt to the pouring spout. When the point 42 of the structure illustrated in FIGURES 3 to 5 is pressed inwardly, the lip portion will only move out a short distance, but when the point 43 is pushed inwardly alone or with the point 42, the pouring spout will pivot out a substantial distance. The points 16 and 17 function as pivot points for the pouring spout. When the portion of the pouring spout below the line joining the points 16 and 17 is moved inwardly, the portion thereabove will move outwardly to open position. The further the bottom portion of the pouring spout is moved inwardly, the greater amount of angular movement will occur to the pouring spout to move it to open position. It can be seen therefore that there are no specific lengths to the various points on the spout since these can be varied depending upon the amount of opening required of the pouring spout.

A relationship of the line lengths and angularity can be obtained from examining the figures, but these will be relative in view of the fact that the carton may be of any size. For example, the cartons of FIGURES 1 and 2 may be only 4 inches square, 12 inches square or a yard square and the lengths of the lines cannot be set forth as being a predetermined length in inches. The relationship however is such that pivoting will occur at the points 16 and 17 when the lower portion of the pouring spout is pushed inwardly at the point 23, the amount of inward movement being limited by the angularity of the score line 19. As has been pointed out above, the score lines may merely be crushed or may be actually scored, the line 19 being scored on the exterior face while the line 18 will be scored on the interior face. In the structure illustrated in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the score lines 38 and 39 will be cut on the inner face while the score line 41 is cut on the outer face. In any of the constructions herein illustrated and described, the lip portion of the pouring spout will snap open when the corner of the container is pushed inwardly at the points 23, 42 and 43. While a corner of a container is referred to herein it is to be understood that an arcuate portion of a round, oval or other shaped container would permit the pouring spout to function in the manner above described.

In FIGURE 7, a pouring spout 36 is illustrated which is similar to that illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 with the handle 15 omitted. Before the point 23 is pressed inwardly the spout portion 37 in the top 13 must be severed therefrom, A folded over portion 38 of the spout portion 37 is severed along the tear line 39 and the side edge is severed along the tear line 41. The portion 38 is then moved to vertical position along the scored line 42. This releases the spout portion 37 from the top 13 and permits it to swing out about an axis through the points 16 and 17 to open position as illustrated in FIGURE 2. The spout portion 37 is moved to closed position in the manner described above and the portion 38 is folded down and locked to the top material along the tear lines 39 and 41 from which it must be released before it can be moved to open position. An L-shaped strip of material 45 may be secured to the under face of the top 13 located at either side of the tear lines 39 and 41 to form a ledge for the edges of the spout portion 37 when in closed position.

We claim:

1. In a container having two adjacent sides forming a corner edge, said container having at least two sets of score lines extending from a point on each side downwardly across the corner edge in spaced relation to each other, the container material being cut through said corner edge to said points forming a cut edge, said cut edge and the topmost of said score lines comprising a pouring spout portion, the topmost of said score lines forming the bottom of the pouring spout portion, and one or more additional sets of score lines, extending downwardly from said points, between said first two sets of score lines for producing a greater flexibility and hinge effect to permit the inward movement of the bottom of the pouring spout portion.

2. In a container having two adjacent sides forming a corner edge, said container having two sets of score lines extending from a point on each side downwardly across the corner edge in spaced relation to each other, the container material being cut through said corner edge to said points forming a cut edge, said cut edge and the topmost of said score lines comprising a pouring spout portion, the topmost of said score lines forming the bottom of the pouring spout portion, and one additional set of score lines extending downwardly from said points, between said first two sets of score lines, for producing a greater flexibility and hinging effect to permit the inward movement of the bottom of the pouring spout portion.

(References on following page) 5 6 References Cited by the Examiner 2,93 3,229 4/ 1960 Bensel 22945 X UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,131,847 5/1964 Desmond 229-17 11/1937 Scott References Cited by the Applicant 1/1944 Ringler 229-47 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/ 1950 Dunning 229-17 3,003,673 10/ 1961 Clark et 81. 10/1957 Braunstein 229 -17 X 11/1957 Graybiu JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Przmary Exammer. 12 1957 Wilson 22 1 l0 FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Exammer.

7/1958 Ryder 229 --17 J. L. KRUTER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A CONTAINER HAVING TWO ADJACENT SIDES FORMING A CORNER EDGE, SAID CONTAINER HAVING AT LEAST TWO SETS OF SCORE LINES EXTENDING FROM A POINT ON EACH SIDE DOWNWARDLY ACROSS THE CORNER EDGE IN SPACED RELATION TO EACH OTHER, THE CONTAINER MATERIAL BEING CUT THROUGH SAID CORNER EDGE TO SAID PONTS FORMNG A CUT EDGE, SAID CUT EDGE AND THE TOPMOST OF SAID SCORE LINES COMPRISING A POURING SPOUT PORTION, THE TOPMOST OF SAIDSCORE LINES FORMINED THE BOTTOM OF THE POURING SPOUT PORTIN, AND ONE OR MORE ADDITIONAL SETS OF SCORE LINES, EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID POINTS, BETWEEN SAID FIRST TWO SETS OF SCORE LINES FOR PRODUCIONG A GREATER FLEXIBILITY AND HINGE EFFECT TO PERMIT THE INWARD MOVEMENT OF THE BOTTOM OF THE POURING SPOUT PORTION. 